UN states have inked deal on climate change

I'm a sports and sports business journalist with City A.M. Follow me for coverage of the industry behind sports and the money made by top athletes.

I've provided expert commentary on sports business for both TV and radio, including the BBC World Service.

My email is always open to tips and story ideas: joe.hall@cityam.com

Follow Joe

Joe Hall

UNITED Nations member states yesterday agreed on how to tackle climate change, after slow negotiations at the Lima Call for Climate Action ran almost two days over time.

For the first time every country will be committed to drawing up a national pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions. However, environmental groups said the deal had been weakened by a series of compromises.

All the 194 countries represented in Lima agreed on a course of action that it is hoped will lead to a global climate treaty at a summit in Paris next year.

Each country’s emissions reductions targets will be reviewed by the UN next year, which will determine whether enough was being done to limit global warming to 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

The agreement was adopted yesterday just hours after a previous draft had been rejected. The final draft softened the language on national pledges, swapping “shall” for “may” on guidelines on countries providing quantifiable information on how they intend to meet targets within their pledges.

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Peru’s environment minister and chair of the talks, said: “I think this is good, and I think this moves us forward.”

Strains in talks were caused by disagreements on how much of the burden in reducing emissions should be carried by wealthy nations.

Before an agreement was reached, US climate envoy Todd Stern warned of stalling progress.

He said: “Failing to produce the decision before us will be seen as a major breakdown, and will deal a serious blow to the confidence of the parties and others as we approach Paris. And indeed to the hope of a Paris agreement.”

The UK is one of the best countries in the world at fighting the effects of climate change, according to the latest climate change performance index.